What Does The Depuy Hip Settlement Mean for Stryker Hip Patients, Biomet Hip Patients, Wright Hip Patients, and Smith & Nephew Hip Patients

Now that Johnson & Johnson has reportedly settled the Depuy ASR Hip litigation, or at least a large portion of if, what does that mean for other manufactures facing claims regarding their products.  Prior to this settlement, the only major recall settlement had been the Sulzer hip settlement.  That settlement was roughly $1B.  In size, this settlement dwarfs that settlement.  Johnson and Johnson paid more in attorneys fees to defend these cases than Sulzer paid in settlement.

What this does do is set some sort of value that Stryker and others can use to quantify its risk and develop a settlement strategy.  It also gives Stryker an idea of its cost to litigate these claims.

Johnson and Johnson has decided not to settle non revised cases at this time.  It will be interesting to see if Stryker and other manufacturers opt for a different tactic in trying to buy peace in the form of future payments based on a sliding scale if the implant fails in the future.